Okay, I have to vent a little and ask you all what you would do in this situation. We live in neighborhood where we are all on an acre lot and we live in an unrestricted area. No home owner association or anything (which isn't an all bad thing but in this situation it would be of some help). We have renters on both sides of us. Have never really had a problem with any of them except for this one. It's gotten really bad. He has these two dogs that they pay no attention to (they are fed but that's it) whom runs the neighborhood but especially staying over at our property. He has a fenced in backyard but they get out on a regular basis. They have tried to keep them tied up in their yard for a short while but that never lasted long. Their dogs will get into our fenced in backyard constantly. Their female dog is getting in to play with our lab but the problem there is neither dog is fixed. Our dog never gets out of our fence. Their other dog, a male terrier, gets into our backyard to attack our lab. Really stupid seeing how our dog is 5x the size as their dog. Our dog is very sweet natured and wouldn't hurt a flea but he may get to the point where he's had enough and let that dog have it. One instance was when the female dog was in the back yard the neighbors happened to be outside and I yelled over to them that their dog was in my backyard again. The mother came over to get the dog. While she was trying to get the dog, I was holding onto our lab's collar to keep him out of the way. Just then their male dog comes charging in and attacks my dog. Now because I am in the backyard and holding onto his collar he reacts to the dog by pinning him down. Does not bite the dog but scared the dog. At that time, I told the mother that if their dog gets hurt and their other dog gets pregnant, that it is not our fault seeing how they are coming into our backyard uninvited. She didn't say a word. There have been multiple times that I have woken up to their dog in the middle of the night barking like mad at our dog through the fence or in our backyard. It is constantly getting everyone's trash and just plain causing havoc. The dog is bored because they do not pay a bit of attention to it. Yesterday morning was the last straw. At 8 in the morning there is commotion going on in my backyard once again. The female dog is in the backyard and the male dog is outside the fence barking his head off at the dogs. I go over to the neighbors house and bang on their door. Probably not the smartest thing to do but I was tired of this. They didn't answer the door. I got frustrated and yelled "Get your damn dogs out of my backyard!" Came back home to find that my husband (who just had surgery last week) chased the dog out of our yard. By this time I go out front again to find the neighbor standing outside who then lights into to me because I cussed out their daughter at the door. I said one bad word and I was referring to the dog. He went on to say that there is not a leash law so there wasn't anything that I could do about it. I then said, so that gives you the right to be inconsiderate to your neighbors? He is cussing like a sailor at me (mind you his daughter was standing right there next to him - but yea, I cussed his daughter out). Calling me all sorts of names, completely uncalled for. Trying to turn it around on me. He then continues to say if I kick his dog one more time that he will call the cops or something. I said all I'm asking for you to do is to be a responsible pet owner and keep your dog out of my backyard. I refused to go more into it with him because of his daughter being right there and there was no reasoning with him. I have never been so mad in my life. Such ignorance. Unfortunately, since there is not a leash law in this county, my hands are tied. However, if that dog comes over to my property and poses a threat, I have every right to protect myself and my property. By the way, we aren't the only neighbors who are having an issue with there dog. But I'm afraid if anything was to happen to his dog, he is going to automatically accuse us of hurting his precious dog.
A seperate issue with this neighbor is that his job consists of cleaning out homes that have been foreclosed on. Instead of taking all the stuff to the proper locations to be disposed of correctly, he brings it all home. He literally has a junkyard in the back of his property. Remember no restrictions. However, he was burning a lot of the stuff on his property and this is illegal. You are not allowed to transport items onto your property to burn and you are not allowed to burn certain things due to what they are made of because of what they will release into the air. We have reported him to the fire marshall and an active investigation has begun. However, that will just stop him from burning the stuff, but won't stop him from bringing things onto the property.
I know we took a chance by buying a home in an unrestricted area but we haven't had an issue up until now and we have been here almost 6 years. I pray every day that they will move. If we could afford to move, trust me we would. I'm also worried about how their kids are going to treat my 8 year old daughter. We were already having issues with them bullying my child (we all know where they get it from, huh?) now with this all happening I'm afraid, it's just going to get worse.
So how would you handle this situation? Do you know of anything that we can do legally? I feel as if our hands are tied since we live in an unrestricted area and there isn't a leash law. I just don't understand how people can be so inconsiderate and ignorant. Sorry for the length but I wanted to explain the situation fully. Any advice you might have, would be appreciative.
Oh, I almost forgot, we are planning to hook up this electric wire that will go around our entire fence. But instead of putting it towards the inside, we are going to put it on the outside of the fence. It will have a low voltage going through it but enough to give a shock to the dogs to keep them out of our backyard. (they are literally digging under our fence and pushing the fence up to get in) Hopefully this will stop them. There will be signs on the fence warning people but again, it won't be a high voltage. I think it's ridiculous that we have to do that to keep someone else's dogs out of the fence. Now that won't cure the barking and the rest of the issues but it would solve one problem. Why can't people respect others???
To answer if we have contacted the owner, no we haven't. We do have his phone number (given to us by another neighbor) but we haven't contacted him. We believe he is aware of it because he is over here quite often. He owns several of the houses in our neighborhood. The funny thing is we've been told by another neighbor about how particular he is about how the outside of his houses look so we think that this particular tenant is working for him as well. Cleaning out his properties after tenants have moved out. That is the only explanation that we can come up with. Also, the owner works for the sheriff's department so I'm sure getting him held accountable as well may prove to be a bit hard.
I hate to say it, but I fear of doing too much to anger this guy because he seems like the type to take it out on us. I am more concerned about how all of this is going to affect my daughter. Basically right now, the law is on his side unfortunately.
I've had to call the animal control out here before due to two rotts that kept getting out of their fence. The problem with those two was that they were completely aggressive. One literally attacked my husband and constantly charged at our neighbors. They too called the animal control. They would come out and speak to the owners and that was it. I was told that they couldn't do any more than that because of the no leash law. Something basically has to happen for them to do something. So we will have to wait for damage to be done to property or worse yet a small child get hurt. Very frustrating. So yeah, they are of no help.
Our dog is not fixed because my husband wanted to breed him with another full blooded lab. Besides, that is our right and we are responsible pet owners. Like I said, he does not get out of our fenced in yard. We have another dog that is an inside dog and she is fixed. The problem is that their dogs are getting into our backyard. They are aware that our dog isn't fixed so if they can't keep their dogs corralled and she ends up pregnant it is their fault since it is their dogs trespassing onto our property.
You said there is no leash law, but there are laws against noise late at night and trespassing. Start calling the cops.
You're going to need a high, good quality chain link fence that also goes really deep into the ground so that the chances of the dogs actually digging underneath it are reduced. My brother-in-law had to do this to protect his own dog.
If that man's dogs are attacking people then that's illegal. Once a dog is a known biter and they're reported then animal control is legally bound to deal with that dog as dangerous to the public. If it happens again, get it treated by a doctor and report it and the doctors will report the dog and owner for you.
A good friend's pit bull attacked her other pit bull (one was three years old, one was less than a year old and they didn't get along very well). She tried to get in between the dogs to stop the fight because they had been working on the younger, more aggressive female in intensive training. Unfortunately, the younger female mauled my friend's leg while trying to get to the older dog. They had to put the dog to sleep against my friend's wishes.
I'd make continual reports to code compliance. They may simply remind the owners to take care of the dogs, but enough complaints and visits to the home, and I imagine they will take care of it. And a call to the police may help move that along as well. Here in Fort Worth code compliance complaints can be done online and they are anonymous. We also live in an area without an HOA, but the city has laws and rules about trash, debris and yard maintenance. I would check the city rules and report them for that as well. You have seen first hand that talking to these people does not good. Noise late at night? I'd start calling the non emergency line and report them to the police for noise violations...even a barking dog. Engaging in anger hasn't gotten their attention either. Ignore them as much as humanly possible and report everything you can. Either they will get their act together or move or in the very least, be out some money to the city.
As a side note...we own a rental property. We were unaware that our tenants at the time were filling our back yard with trash and furniture. They did odd jobs and collected things on the side of the street. We were by the house often and never noticed anything. The sides of the house were clear and the front yard was neat and mowed, the inside of the house was always clean. Then we got a call from a neighbor stating they were going to call the city about the back yard and wanted to give us a "heads up" since she wasn't sure if the city would eventually go after us over it. We were absolutely shocked to see what the back yard looked like. We had no clue. The tenants cleaned it immediately because we threatened to evict. We had to apologize to the neighbors and let them know to call us any time they saw something like this. So it is possible the owner doesn't know. It can't hurt to call him, especially if you learn it's a violation of city code.
Well, you are WAY kinder than I would be.
At this point, I would just call the police, non emergency, EVERY SINGLE TIME. After all, what you are describing is actually AGAINST THE LAW. And while it may be annoying to your local police department, it IS what they're there for.
Forget animal control. File a police report EVERY SINGLE time the dogs are in your yard. I know it sounds radical, but you've already TRIED all the nice neighborly ways of resolution.
:(
I've lived somewhere once w/problematic neighbors.
Trust me....you do not want to make things worse.
Let's see, what can you, personally do to safeguard yourself:
-Have your dog fixed if she is not already.
-Call animal control if they get into your backyard
-I think I would put up the electric fence
-Don't worry about what he brings home from his job. Not your problem.
- Call the landlord regarding that & all the issues you are having
-Let's hope they move soon. Most renters don't remain in 1 place forever
-Dig a trench below the bottom of your fence line: pour cement down there or bury long planks (cement is better), cover w/dirt/grass
-Don't engage in any more confrontations (obviously it isn't working. You
don't want to anger a difficult person more than you may already have.
They can be very unpredictable & you want to protect YOUR dogs & your child.
Good luck, don't exacerbate the problem, think smart, protect yourself & your property legally & in the best way possible.
there may not be a leash law but i am sure there is some sort of law preventing his dogs from going on other peoples property? i would also call animal control. i think the low voltage electrical wire is a good idea. like someone else said, i did that once to keep my dogs from digging out. (and i made my boyfriend at the time test it :) ) it gives a little shock but nothing TOO painful. i'm sure the dogs will test it once or twice then they won't be back. i feel sorry for you, i would not want those people as neighbors!
side note *** why isn't YOUR dog neutered? :) nothing mean natured, just curious. (you made a comment about if their dog gets pregnant, not your fault) spaying & neutering is part of being a responsible pet owner as well.
Call Animal Control the next time the animal is in your backyard. Although there are no leash laws, there is more than likely a nuisance law so if the dog is in your backyard, they can come and pick it up. If the problem continues then the owner will end up being fined. Not only that, they may also require the animals to be spayed and neutered.
As for the trash....check with your city. Although you are not in a restricted neighborhood, you may still be subject to City or County regulations. We live in a neighborhood that is 1/2 acre yards and not HOA (thank goodnes!). However, when the subdivision was built the City annexed it so it falls under the regulations of the City.
The next time you see him burning things in the back yard, call the fire dept. If there is a burn ban let the authorities take care of it!
Have you tried calling animal control? Next time the dogs get in your yard, call them instead.
An electrical fence may do the trick. It won't take long for a dog to realize that it's painful to go near your fence. We placed one inside our fence to train our dog not to escape. It didn't take long to work.
Do you know the owners of the house? Are they aware that their tenant is buring things in the backyard? They need to know since it's a liability and they can be held responsible for any damage or injury to others.
I feel your pain! I would call animal control and see if they have any suggestions; do all the dogs involved have a license? I would call the police or someone and find out for sure what my rights/laws are as far as their dogs coming on to my property so when/if I shoot their dogs then I know I'm within my rights. Definitely find out what the law is on the electric fence so if their dogs get zapped, they can't file a lawsuit against you. If their dogs keep attacking your dog, I would file a report every single time so they know what's going on! I would definitely get my dog fixed also. As for respect for others? Unfortunately, we're living in a very selfish world and it just keeps getting worse. If all else fails, I would find some way to move and do my research on the neighbors before settling somewhere else. Good luck!!!!
You said there is NO leash law, what about a law requireing the dogs to have their shots? Call you local animal control, chances are these dogs aren't current on their shots. Then they can fine them for that. Also if the dog is on your property and causes any damage you can sue them/or the landlord if he can't keep his tenants in line. You really should call the landlord every single time you have an issue with them (I did this with one of our neighbors) after a while he will do something about it. If the dogs are in your yard and are threatning you do have the right to protect yourself and your family. Start by recording a few different occasions, just so you have proof. Then if you need to take action you will have documentation to show why. Also try and speak with them again but this time try to record everything. There may not be a leash law, but there is a law about controling your animals. Call your local code enforcement agency tell them the situation, I'm sure they can point you in the right direction.
If the landlord rents to other neighbors you get along with, ask to see a copy of their rental agreement (with $$ removed, of course). There may be something in there about keeping trash/junk on the property.
I would just contact the owner and let him know what, exactly has been going on. No landlord wants difficult tenants who can't get along with their neighbors. If anything does cross the legal line, he can be held at least partially responsible.
A letter might be best, just so it's in writing.
Is your dog fixed? If so, he can't impregnate the female dog. If there's no leash law, there isn't a lot you can do and you're only getting yourselves upset. I'd let the female dog play unless your dog isn't fixed too and if he's not, maybe get him fixed?... I'm a believer that unless you're a breeder, all dogs should be fixed. And/or for the little male dog, start spraying him with the hose when ever he comes over. The barking would infuriate me if it was in the morning so I'd try spraying him. Maybe google if there are other things that will deter the dogs from coming over. And research if your dog hurts him if you're liable at all. Tell the police what's going on so it's on record. And then if he hurts the dog, not your fault...
Call code enforcement on the junkyard!
I've never heard of neighborhoods being "unrestricted" vs. any other type. Most neighborhoods around here are not associations and so there are no guidelines other than the local laws. I would do a couple of things - first, take video recording of their dogs in your backyard, digging under the fence destryoing it, etc. Keep your camcorder handy and document! keep a notebook handy too (one of those black & white composition books) and record the instances. Next, go down to your local police station and talk to the officer/sergeant at the desk. He may be able to give you some ideas of how to handle this. If there are no laws concerning dogs running wild, there has to be something that protects your property. Call a local law school and see if there are any free or reduced cost legal services available. I hate to suggest being the person who begins legal action but in this instance these people have just gone overboard.
As for the junk piles that this person is bringing in to the yard, why not notify the landlord? Go to town hall and find out who owns the property (often it's now available online) and send them some photos. If possible try to take the photos from a perspective other than from your yard.
Good luck. Seems that suburbia brings out the worst in many people - your neighbors included.
I would be sure that installing an electric fence is legal. I also agree that Animal control may be able to help you know what you can and cannot do. Even tho there is no leash law I would think that there is a law about keeping dogs out of other people's fenced yards.
Our city/county has a neighborhood mediation office. I suggest that you file a complaint with them and ask for mediation. The police department should have their number.
My suggestion to you is to read your laws and understand them. That will be your biggest defense. Perhaps when you call the dog pound or the police you need to say they are trespassing (not ok per law), rather than the dog is in my yard not on a leash (ok per law).
I thought the low voltage dog fences required the dog to be wearing a special collar. If you mean a cattle fence, that would make sense. I would not have the nerve to do it because I was told by the police if I do something that causes someone to be injured, I would be liable.
I would HATE living in your area.I will tell you that is why we bought in the strictest neighborhood. Guess what. There are several who let their grass grow to the max allowed and push the boundaries. They let their dogs out to poop in other's yards. The association doesn't do anything other than send polite reminder letters.
Well we moved out of a situation similar to yours. Can you call the landlord of the house next door, and talk to him about the situation? Can you call animal control, the next time their dogs are in your fence? Or can you take them yourself to the pound? Maybe you can say that these dogs are continually in your yard and you don't want to deal with the renter anymore so you are bringing them to the pound. If he has to pay a fee to retrieve them maybe he will keep a better eye on them. I'm sorry but the only other advice I can give you is to move. If you have rentals on 2 sides of your house, and there are no restrictions, that is a sad situation. As you can see from the beginning of my post, we ended up moving, and it was the best thing we ever did for that type of situation. Good luck to you. Oh, and I would not let your daughter play with the kids. They will just continue to bully her, and she does not deserve that.
I would call the non emergency police line and discuss the situation with them to see if they have any suggestions on how to handle this. I agree about calling animal control but I would also encourage you to call the owner of the property and make sure every other neighbor who has issues with this renter also calls the owner. If he gets lots of complaints he might be much more likely to do something about it. Good luck!
His dogs are damaging your property? Get an estimate to have it fixed then present it to the neighbor and tell him that if he agrees to keep his dogs off your property you will pay for the damages. However if he doesn't agree and/or doesn't keep them off you will expect him to pay for the damages. Explain nicely how you would hate to take him to small claims court over it but you really can't have his animals continuously wrecking your property.
Even if you think the owner won't care you need to notify him. Explain how bad it's gotten and ask him to speak to the renter about it.
I understand being in fear but at the same time you have a right. I would call the city code enforcement so that they can at least take action or be aware of the junk on the property. He can be given a warning, than a fine and than taken to court if he doesn't abid by the rules. I have had to do this in our neighborhood as well.
I would definetly be talking to the owner, police and animal control about his dogs. The dog has attacked your dog and that is unexceptable. There is something they can do.
Just cause there isn't a leash law that doesn't mean your dogs can roam free and be on other people's property. We also lived on ten acres in an unrestricted neighborhood, next time the dogs are in your yard call animal control to come remove the dogs. They will have to do so and take the dogs to their shelter and the owners will have to pay a fee to get them back, they can only do this a few times before they will no longer give the dogs back.
A couple of things came to mind reading your post. First, I would try to reach the property owner and let him/her know about the problems their tenant is causing. Also, stress to the property owner that you are putting them on notice that their tenant's dog is destroying your fence and if repairs become necessary, you will be looking to them to pay for the repairs.
I would definintely rethink the electric wire thing. If a small child is shocked/electrocuted, you could be held liable. If that child happens to be wet or standing in water, watch out! No, I would not do the electric wire.
I understand you may not have a leash law where you are, but aren't there any ordiances about dogs running at large? If so, throw the dogs out into the street and call animal control. Take photos so if the dogs are back in by he time they arrive, you have proof that they have been running amuk.
Good luck! Sounds like an awful situation.
Edit: I saw in your SWH that the property owner works for the sheriff's department. Oh well, this is a civil matter, not criminal so his connections to the sheriff probably won't do him any good. The sheriff cannot help him when you file a small claims suit for fence repairs! Also, where we live, you could look into holding the property owner responsible for maintaining a nuisance. Look into that as well. Again, the sheriff can't help him with that!
I would call the county animal control or the county government offices and find out what the laws are regarding the responsibilities of pet owners. I would focus on the dog owners, if you think that getting the landlord to be accountable would be problematic.
Even if there are not leash laws (requiring a dog to be on a leash when off one's personal property), there are property laws and usually laws regarding the care and stewardship of animals.
I would also start documenting each and every time the dogs get onto your property. Video and written record. Record any damage done by the dogs to you, your husband, your dog, your yard, etc. If you know the names of other people in your neighborhood who are also having problems with this, jot down their names. Then I would contact a lawyer.
As others have said - you can call animal control to come and pick the dog up. A dog that barked all the time in my neighborhood was picked up (when it got out and was roaming) and the neighbors who owned it never went and picked it up. If the dog doesn't have a tag on it, you could always call animal control and say you have no idea who owns it, but you don't want it in your yard.
Also, we lived in an area with no leash law and some neighbors dogs got out and attacked people. I called the sheriff when I saw this happening and the sherif said that I had a right to protect my property and that I could shoot the dog. (I would never do that, but I thought I would just let you know). You REALLY need to find out what your rights are.
Good luck,
L.
yep, i agree with you on all counts. is is your right to have an unfixed dog. it is also their right to let theirs run free, according to the laws as you have stated. and i don't agree with either of those things. but that's just me. i didn't read the responses that caused you to reply about that, but it IS a valid point. both of you are obeying the laws as they are in your area. you don't agree with how he's doing it, some people may not agree with how you're doing it. i personally don't agree with having ANY dog that isn't fixed, for any reason. BUT that's not what you're asking. i agree that the electrified fence (there's no harm in that, i don't see a problem with it at all) will probably help the situation. it won't solve it, since they have an unfixed female dog and you have an unfixed male dog, AND they have an aggressive male dog as well. it's just how it is. until/unless some harm comes to someone or something, as you say, there's not a lot you can do, other than shoot them if they come on your property. of course that wouldn't be my first choice, probably not yours either. i'm sorry you're in this situation because as you said there's no real good solution. hopefully the electric fence will help!
